Card shuffler



Jan. 12 1926.

. C. A. GUNZELMAN ET AL CARD SHUFFLER Filed June 22 I 1925 u r a v I INVENTOR J 62A. GUNZELMAN I P X/ Ll GUNZELMAN I v ATTORNEYS useful Improvement in Patented Jan. 12, 1926.

CHARLES A.

GUNZELMAN AND WILLIAM J. GUNZELMAN, OF ABILENE, KANSAS.

GA BD SHUFFLER.

Application filed June 22,

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, CHARLES A. GUNZEL- MAN and WiLLIAM J. GUNZELMAN, both citizens of'the United States, and residents of Abilene, 'in the county of Dickinson and State of Kansas, have invented anew and Card Shufllers, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description.

Our invention relates to improvements in card shufliers, and it consists in the combinations, constructions, and arrangements herein described and claimed.

An object of our invention is to provide a card shuflier thatis adapted to receive a deck of cards and to thoroughly mix the cards in the deck, this being accomplished by a mechanical means that is brought into play when the device is shaken by the operator.

A further objectv of our invention is to provide a card shufller in which the box is shaped so asto aid in the shuflling of the cards.-

A further object of our invention is to provide a card shufller which is simple in construction, durable and. thoroughly eflicient for the purpose intended, and which is not likely toget out of order easily.

- Other objects and advantages will appear inthe following specification, and the novel features of the invention will be particularly pointed out in the appended claims.-

illustrated in the accom- Our invention is Hart ofthis appanying drawings, forming plication, in which Figure 1 is a top plan view of the device, and

Figure 2 is a longitudinal section through the device.

In carrying out our invention we pro vide a card shuffler that comprises a box having the shape shown in Figure2. It will be noted from Figure 2 that the top 1 and the bottom 2 of the box are narrower than the distance across the middle of the box. \Vhen the cover 3 is in closed position, the box entirely encloses the deck of cards. In use the deck is first placed in the top of the box and here the wall land the'door 3' contact with the deck so as to hold the ends of the cards at the top of the deck in close proximity to each other while at the same time-permitting the cards to -fiare outwardly box.

1925. Serial No. 38,870.

box are held by the sides 5 and 6 of the box so as to cause the deck torepresent an I inverted triangle,

lVe provide means for preventing all of" the cards from moving from the top of the box to the bottom of the box at the same time. This means in the'present instance consists of card mixing members 7 and 8 that are pivotally mounted at 9 and 10 to the sides. of the box. The members are in the shape of a vane and'are adapted to interfere with the movement of the cards from the upper to the lower compartment or vice versa. We have foundthat the best results are obtained by spacing the centers of the vanes three-fourths of an inch apart. There is still space between each of the vanes and between'the vanes and the sides of the box.

The'vanes will not remain in the position shown in Figure 2 but will be turned into varlous positlons as the cards pass thereby.

From the foregoing description of the various parts of the device, the operation thereof may be readily understood. The box s preferably made out of bakelite or other slmilar material and is lined with a soft material such as felt or the like. The cover 3 1s hinged at 11 and is spring pressed so as to be yieldingly held in closed position. It will be noted that the top 1 has a slot 12 cut therein, this slot extendmg into the wall 4 for a short distance.

When operating the device the door 3 is opened and the deck is. inserted into the The box is preferably held in a horizontal position when inserting the deck of cards. The slot 12 is for the purpose of permitting the fingers of the player to keep hold of the cards while placing the cards in the box. The deck is placed in'the box so as to have the face of the cards turned toward the wall 4. The door is now closed and the box is grasped in the hand of the operator and held in a vertical position while the box is moved up and down. The position of the box may be changed but we have" the upper compartment to the lower compartment. As heretofore stated, the deck when in the upper compartment has the lowerend thereof flared so as to cause the cards to take different paths in passing from the upper compartment to the lower com-- partment. Moreover the vanes 7 and 8 prevent the entire deck from passing from the upper compartment to the lower compartment at the. same time. The vanes are rotatably mounted and therefore cut into the deck so as to deflect the cards as they pass by the vanes, thus effectually mixing the cards. 1

When the cards areall in the lower compartment the box is inverted and the same operation repeated. The cards .in'passin from the point adjacent to the wall 2 to the point adjacent to thewall 1 will be mixed still further, A. window 13 is provided in the wall 6 so as to permit the player to tell when all of the cards in the compartment adj acent-to the window 13 have passed therefrom'ri-nto the next compartment. When the cardsare all in the compartment covered by the. door 3, the operator knows that the cards are mixed and can then open the door, grasp the deck in his hand and remove the deck from the box. The slot 12 permits the deck to be readily removed.

We claim:

1. A card shufiiing device comprising-a casing adapted to receive a deck of cards, and means disposed in said casing for shuffling the deck of cards, said means being actuated by the movement of the cards.

2. A card 'shufiling device comprising a casing adapted to receive a deck of cards, means disposed in said casing for shuffling the deck of cards, said means being actuated by the movement of the cards, and a win (low disposed in said casing to permit the player to see the cards.

3. A card shufiler comprising a casing divided into card receiving compartments, the

Walls of said compartments being inclined so as to bring the edges of the cards adjag cent to one end of the deck in close proximity to each other, while permitting the opposite edges of the cards to bespaced from each other, and means disposed in said casing for shufiling the deck of cards, said means being actuated by the movement of the cards.

CHARLES A. GUN ZELMAN. WVILLIAM J. GUNZELMAN. 

